Saddened afterMaharaja Ranjit Singh's statue was vandalised in Lahore, British Labour MPTanmanjeet Singh Dhesi on Wednesday said the court of the Sikh ruler was run bythe Muslims, Hindus, Christians and Sikhs.
"Saddened bythis from extremists in Pakistan (western) Punjab, specially as Maharaja RanjitSingh was no foreign invader, but fellow Punjabi whose court was run byMuslims, Hindus, Christians and Sikhs, and who donated to building theirshrines," Dhesi tweeted.
"Hopeauthorities swiftly repair it," the Sikh MP from Slough added.
A day earlier Indiaexpressed concern at the vandalization of the statue, saying incidents ofviolence against Pakistan's minorities are increasing at an "alarmingrate".
Union MinisterHardeep Singh Puri described Maharaja Ranjit Singh 'the great unifier ofIndia', saying the incident must be strongly condemned.
"This act whichattempts to erase the shared history of the subcontinent shows how extremistideologies feel emboldened in our volatile neighbourhood," Puri tweeted.
This was the thirdattempt of vandalising the statue since its unveiling in 2019 at the LahoreFort on Ranjit Singh's 180th death anniversary.